


M&Ms (And Interlude)

by Trekkele



Series: A Townie, A Linguist, And Several Kinds Of Tea. [9]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, Gen, Starfleet Academy, jim and gaila are being geniuses in the background, talking about friends with other friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 20:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trekkele/pseuds/Trekkele
Summary: Nyota and Len talk about first impressions. Kind of.





	M&Ms (And Interlude)

**Author's Note:**

> (An Interlude) basically means either Ny or Jim are in the story, or neither, but not both. Quick little thing I dashed off, let me know if you catch any mistakes.
> 
> Also, I know I haven't been responding to comments, but I want all of you lovely, wonderful people too know I love you and your comments make my day, and I'm really grateful for each of them.

“You know I was never sure what you saw in him.” Uhura popped an m&m into her mouth, watching Jim and Gaila surround themselves with more padds then looked necessary, arguing over the gravity wells of dying stars and the effect they had on warp engines.

 

Leonard paused, eyebrows raised and thermos of coffee halfway to his mouth. Three months ago there would have been more than one shot of whiskey in there. It looked her opinions weren’t the only thing that changed.

 

“Jim.” she nodded in his direction. “Those first few weeks, you two stuck to each other like limpets and I couldn't figure out why. I mean, yeah, you're a grumpy, bitchy guy when you want to be,” Len humphs at her, but she just waves him away, “but the higher ranking half of medical had stars in their eyes when they heard you joined up. I've seen the way they look at you, they  _ respect  _ you, and I didnt think it made sense.” It hadn’t, at the time.

 

“And now?” Len asks, sipping coffee and face turned up to the sun. She raises an eyebrow at him, and he smirks at her, as if he knows exactly what she's thinking.

 

Jim is waving his arms around, trying to explain something to Gaila, who already has another padd out and is calculating  _ exactly  _ why he’s wrong. Where are they even getting all those?

 

“He listens to her. And anyone who looks like they need it. Really  _ listens _ . I didn't think he was capable of that.” Gaila shoves the padd in his face and Jim starts laughing because she's right, of course shes right. Show me how to do that, he demands, giving the padd back to her.

 

“Did you know?” she asks, suddenly not sure where she’s going with this, “what kind of guy he was, when you met him?”

 

“From what I understood, Uhura, you'n me had very different first impressions.” he reaches over and grabs some candy out of her bag, carefully choosing the red ones first. It always fascinated her, the weird little things people did without realizing. Like dunking a tea bag precisely three times, or eating a handful of m&ms by colour. 

 

A hot mess with a pretty face, she almost says, but thinks it may come across a little unkind. “And what was your first impression?” she winces, remembering the fight that Kirk maybe didn’t start, but definitely got the bad end off of, and the bruises he had in the shuttle the next morning.

 

“Beat up and kinda confused about what the fuck he was doin’, but also willing to chatter at a stranger for an hour so that he wouldn’t have a panic attack in public.” Len answered, carefully picking out the blue ones next. Uhura blinked at him, wondering why in the world he thought joining starfleet was a good idea.

 

“You’re really that scared of flying?” she says, well aware of how incredulous her voice sounds. 

 

“Now, sweetheart, don’t sound so shocked,” he drawls, “there’s an entire support group that meets every Thursday.” he shrugs, starting on the orange ones, “by the time I graduate, I won’t be anymore. I guess that’s a small price to pay.”

 

She stares at him, absentmindedly popping another m&m into her mouth and chewing. “Well he certainly didn’t look like he knew what he was doing,” she mused, “so I guess it was just good luck on your part.” Len gave her a look, one she recognized from how many times he’s used it on Kirk during one of his rapid fire info dumps.

 

“Jim.” she clarifies, “I meant that I guess you just had good luck at choosing  _ friends _ .” and Len snickers, shaking his head at her, reaching over and grabbing another handful of chocolates. 

 

“Well, darlin, you do need to remember you’re his friend too, ya’know. Guess we’re both lucky when you think about it.”

 

And it’s funny, to hear someone say it, but she guesses he’s right. Who would have thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Nyota's a bit more stubborn and set in her opinions in aos, at least that's how i've read her, and its not so much that she can't admit she's friends with Jim, it's more that she never expected it to happen and needed to get used to the idea.  
> The next one actually involves tea. I'm shocked.


End file.
